STUBBS

One of the most obscure Japanese bands you could possibly imagine, STUBBS was a true anomaly that totally went against the grain of the popular music scene that was sweeping that nation during that era. While the 80s was fertile ground for a whole range of genres ranging from city pop and new wave to the blossoming world of heavy metal and rowdy punk-inspired noise rock bands, there was a small but dedicated group of musicians who were more captivated by the European progressive rock scene. In the case of a band called STUBBS, which clearly derived its moniker from the short Hatfield & The North into titled "The Stubbs Effect" on the Hatfield debut album, this Japanese collective led by keyboardist Yama[&*!#]a Kojiro was delivering its own strange interpretations of England's Canterbury Scene.

STUBBS remains one of the least known of all such acts that followed in the footsteps of the English legends by leaving only two albums that were supposedly ever released on a cassette-only format. The first release, "The Idyll Party" emerged from the Japanese underground in 1984 and showcased the band rendering its own take on the sounds of classic Hatfield & The North, National Health, Egg, Soft Machine and pretty much any other act of the era that they could glean inspiration from. While clearly on hero worship mode, the first album showcased many moments of extreme creativity allowing STUBBS to insert its own inventiveness to the overall mix with a somewhat more updated version of the Canterbury sounds by emphasizing moments of hefty rock guitar and moments of avant-garde ingenuity.

The second release THE PRIME MOVING LUMPS, a title clearly referring to the track "Lumps" from Hatfield's "The Rotter's Club" came out in 1985 and delivered a serious upgrade in the band's development as a creative entity in its own right. While clearly steeped in all that Canterbury glory that spawned one of progressive rock's most endearing subgenres of technically infused jazz-rock, on THE PRIME MOVING LUMPS the band had largely abandoned the dreamy meanderings that evoked the classic Hatfield & The North albums and added a more spirited energy with faster tempos, more extreme drumming and an emphasis on the guitar and keyboard interplay as the primary instrumentation of conveying all those idiosyncratic complex Canterbury chord sequences.

A slightly shorter album than the debut, THE PRIME MOVING LUMPS featured six tracks that spanned a running time of 46 minutes and featured the same core lineup of Yama[&*!#]a Kojio on keys, Kasai Ken on guitar, Kamon Ryo on bass and Konno Kuzuhiko on percussion duties. While an almost exclusively instrumental affair, vocalist Yorino Runchiee also returns on the final track for a few scant vocal parts that evoked the spirit of the The Northettes' angelic vocal contributions to the Hatfield releases. Despite a shift into a more creative self-expressing approach on THE PRIME MOVING LUMPS, the album still retains moments that sound lifted right off of the classic Hatifeld albums especially the track "Under Pebble Wood."

The album starts off awkwardly with a lengthy intro of Japanese dialogue, military marches and what basically sounds like snippets from a Japanese comedy show followed by a TV sitcom theme jingle but as soon as that head scratching intro yields to the musical flow, the band lets loose on "The Prime Ultimate" with an upbeat keyboard loop accompanied by the guitar which provides the proper Canterbury musical scales and technicalities that made the genre so utterly unique. The energy is fast paced with a mix of cleaner guitar soloing and more distorted guitar chords and riffing along with an energetic percussive drive accompanied by the bass for a beefed up rhythm section. This is probably the most rock-oriented version of the Canterbury Scene i've yet experience since the 70s bands focused more on atmospheres, tones, timbres, textures and jazz oriented technicalities as their primary means of musical execution.

"Jean Frazier" follows and offers one of the most abstractly avant-garde tracks with random clusters of Canterbury keys accompanied only by a guitar lick that exists in its own world slightly set back in the mix. When the bass and drum finally kick in after a couple minutes, they create their own rhythm section while the keyboard and guitar stay rigidly fixed to their comfort zone however despite the avant-garde nature of the track, the keyboard weirdness is a repetitive cyclical loop based in Canterbury musical scales leaving the guitar to be the rogue drifter of the bunch but towards the end the guitar shifts into a highly distorted acid rock type of riffing sound while the percussion incrementally picks up speed and the guitar totally freaks out. The track is followed by the more "normal" sounding "The Land Of Yellow Leaves" which is a more caffeinated track that mixes the world of classic Hatfield & The North with National Health and all the warm cozy familiarities.

"Pondes Ete" jumps into a fast-paced, percussion-heavy quickened series of keyboard stabs in full staccato mode. The guitar provides a backing syncopation and the track seems inspired by extremely intense Japanese taiko drumming only with a noisy guitar, a bantering bass and wild keyboard experiments. The track is the shortest of the lot but also the most energetic. If it seems the album is too bombastic, the near 10-minute fifth track "Under Pebble Wood" finally offers an escape hatch into the more placid dreamy aspects of the Canterbury charm with an ethereal fluttering of the synthesizer ushering in a more traditional 70s sounding track. Unlike the free-floating debut album though, this one seems to like grooves that repeat clusters of sounds which alternate with those more classic Canterbury trademark musical scale outbursts. The track remains the most stable of the lot by retaining the general melodic flow albeit offering many time signature-rich excursions into variations that expand upon the main theme. It's probably the most traditional track on the album.

The grand finale, the 14-minute "Eternity Is Infinity" begins with the celestial unaccompanied vocal contributions of Yorino Runchiee before the track abruptly breaks into a series of dark toned keyboard heft immediately surrounded by the support of a beefy bass groove, steady drumbeat and then by the same unruly guitar that then tames itself into a more appropriate Canterbury posturing. After five minutes the track breaks into a more traditional Hatfield & The North segment and continues to carry on this basic tribute section only as the track progresses the band's energetic youthful energy offers high energy guitar workouts, wily keyboard antics and then really goes into overdrive with a series of quickened keyboard runs, beefed up bass and guitar mojo. Then comes the experimental drifting into the unknown. This track really slinks and slides all over the place but yet always finds the perfect place to cement that Canterbury sounding resolution even in the midst of when the band threatens to spiral out of the known universe into a tumultuous avant-garde calamity.

All i can say is WOW! First of all, it's a miracle this was ever created much less recorded and readily available in the modern era on YouTube at least. This has to be the most bold, brash and intrepid venture into the classic Canterbury sounds of the 70s that i've ever heard. While the debut insinuated the band's latent talent and relentlessness that showcased a younger generation evolving the 70s style into a new era, THE PRIME MOVING LUMPS fully unleashes all the pent up promise that STUBBS delivered with gusto. The band exhibits a firm command of the classic Canterbury sounds all the while taking it into the broader world of upbeat rock music and nurturing the avant-garde extremism into the next level of creative resolution. The band's passion is on full fire power on THE PRIME MOVING LUMPS and it's utterly amazing how an unknown group of dedicated musicians from Japan could foster such a convincing musical style that emerged so far from their own musical heritage.

Despite being self-released even the production is somewhat of an upgrade from the debut but given the lo-fi indie nature of the project still suffered however for me it's the music that really counts and as far as the compositions and instrumental interplay are concerned, STUBBS was a top notch act that walked the perfect balance between meritorious homage to the Canterbury greats while infusing the style with an exhilarating expansiveness of ingenious inventiveness. I'd give this 5 stars if the production wasn't so poor. Musically this is one of the most creative Canterbury albums outside of the 70s i've ever heard. Too bad this team didn't stick it out for the long run. This band really needs to be rescued from the doldrums of the underworld. The two albums from STUBBS are magical and more than deserve a proper release format. A remastering would improve the sound quality remarkably but even if only released in its original form would still be a welcome recognition of the outstanding talent that STUBBS displayed. For my liking this second album is the better of the two.

Scraping the most obscure barrels of history of the 1980s can yield some interesting results including some true surprises in the most unlikely of places. STUBBS was perhaps the first band from Japan to tackle the English Canterbury Scene sounds delivered by an entire movement set forth in the 1960s and blossomed in 1970s England. To say this band is obscure would be the understatement of the century as it doesn't even show up on well established databases such as Discogs. Virtually nothing is known about this band except that it released two albums in the mid-1980s amongst the world of new wave, noise rock and other punk-inspired bands that had dominated the decade in Japan.

STUBBS on the other hand was firmly planted in the 1970s with its inspiration being drawn from classic Canterbury jazz giants such as Hatfield & The North (from which it scored its band name), National Health and Egg. What little that is known includes the lineup of Kamon Ryo on bass, Konno Kazukiko on drums,- Kasai Ken on guitar, Yama[&*!#]a Kojiro on organ, piano andsynthesizer along with vocalist Yorino Runchiee. STUBBS released two impossible to find albums beginning with this cassette only debut titled THE IDYLL PARTY in 1984 followed by the sophomore cassette release "The Prime Moving Lumps" in 1985.

Given the nebulous nature of this release, it's hard to tell if any available info is correct but it seems that in addition to the lineup listed above, THE IDYLL PARTY also featured a guest appearance of British jazz musician Lol Coxhill who contributed winds on the track "With Music Language." Coxhill was a prolific jazz artist who released more than 40 albums and dabbled in the British Canterbury Scene by playing saxophone with Kevin Ayers on his album "Shooting At The Moon." Despite the complete obscurity of this album, someone still has uploaded it to YouTube where it can be sampled and experienced. This album's playing time almost reaches 50 minutes yet features only four tracks.

Primarily an instrumental affair with only the occasional wordless vocals of YIorino Runchiee punctuating the musical flow, THE IDYLL PARTY alternates between the laidback mellow moments of Hatfield & The North and more upbeat rock oriented segments that were more typical of National Health yet adds its own stamp of creativity strewn throughout. Hatfield & The North is the primary subject of focus here only with a more pronounced bass groove, emphasis on guitar textures and although the keys, organs, synths and piano are clearly out of the Mike Ratledge playbook, this band was slightly more aggressive in its delivery system. The music is in hero worship throughout its entire run but not without its own creative edge. The music flows quite nicely and the clever instrumental interplay made the musicians in STUBBS true masters of the Canterbury Scene sound despite releasing two cassette releases with poor production values.

Sounding more like a passionate love affair set to demo than a real album, STUBBS clearly displayed its astute knowledge of one of England's most revered branches of jazz-rock and delivered a satisfying and even intriguing set of four tracks. Where the band presented its most creative take on the classic Hatfield sounds was in military march drumming sections, heavy staccato keyboard movements, tape experiments, traces of funk, more modern rock guitar and soloing. If that really is Lol Coxhill on the final track "With Music Language" then he delivers a very lengthy wind (clarinet maybe?) solo before the track jumps into a percussion heavy frenzy with crazy guitar improvisation and a robust bass groove. This is by far the most energetic and rock oriented track however even it cedes to the more pacifying laid back Hatfield inspired keyboard Canterbury sounds even if the guitar refuses to accept the new developments.

STUBBS is a testament to a thriving Japanese underground scene that worshipped Western progressive rock and even though this long lost artifact is impossible to obtain in any tangible physical manner, the music presented here is nothing less than phenomenal. The musicians are as talented and professional sounding as the musical maestros of the original Canterbury Scene themselves. The drawback here of course is the shoddy production and the overt hero worship that keeps it from sounding completely original but for a completely unknown band from the Japanese underground to have released such a thing in 1984 is actually mind-blowing. Excellent release as far as the music is concerned with an equal enjoyment value but obviously not an essential release due to the nature of the recording. The band's two albums however MORE than deserve a proper release on vinyl, CD, remastered digital or whatever. This band really could've blossomed had it not been swimming upstream during the prog starved 80s. Fascinating release for sure.

3.5 rounded down

Despite poor sound quality, there are some very charming and Canterbury-worthy moments in this album from these Hatfield-inspired Japanese musicians.

1. "The Prime Ultimate" (6:16) nothing special. Poor sound gets in the way of listening enjoyment. (7.75/10)

2. "Jean Frazier" (6:54) for the first 2:15, this is just fuzz guitar and Fender Rhodes playing as if they are in their own separate universes. Then drums and bass join in, bringing some cohesion, though also somehow loosely connected to the others. Until 5:15, I find the drums the most compelling object of my attentions. Then it all goes downhill. (11/15)

3. "The Land Of Yellow Leaves" (4:55) opens as a 60s rocker with 80s techno drum effects before transitioning to a more rudimentary tongue-in-cheek Hatfleld-ish song. Quite humorous! (8.5/10)

4. "Pondes Ete" (3:48) Double-tracked guitar opens this before vuvuzela organ and drums and bass come rushing in. The song proceeds as a KING CRIMSON "Discipline"-like exercise or étude with a few familiar riffs and melodic hooks thrown in for good measure. (8.5/10)

5. "Under Pebble Wood" (9:56) nice slow pace allows sounds to shine in this EGG-like song. My favorite song on the album. (19/20)

6. "Eternity Is Infinity" (14:09) opens with a full minute of distant operatic soprano vocalise before band joins in. Techno-treated drums (machine?) and other cheap, toy-like instrumental sounds give this a rather Robert Fripp League of Gentlemen. At 4:15 there is a dramatic shift into an entirely new movement--one that is definitely in the HATFIELD universe (despite the CAN-like drum machine sounds). Great drum sound and play before the keyboard artist let's loose with some great vintage Canterburian sounds and displays. The crazy 8th minute sounds like SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET gone punk turning CAN crazy the further we go along. Interesting stretch from about 9:30 to 11:00 before some prime David Sinclair contemplative playing shines through. Got to admit: I love those final four minutes. (25.75/30)

Total time 45:58

While I love the keyboard work and am quite impressed with the bass play and Jaki Liebezeit drumming , the overall sound of this recording leaves much to be desired.

B-/3.5 stars; an interesting homage to the 1970-74 era of Canterbury sound.

Solid debut.

Very nice album in the tradition of Egg/National Health. Lots of sections on the four songs, nice use of keyboard and drums on every track. The music has this really modern hip hop feel in regards to the percussion. It gives the music a nice vibe, sounds like progressive lo Fi to me. I enjoy the shifting nature of the four compositions but find the moments where it goes quiet to be too frequent. The energy level is also lower then on the follow up.

First meeting starts with a minute ambient build up then goes on for a few minutes until the song stops for a five minute section of mostly e piano tinkling. It's okay but eats up to much time. Anyways the song comes back, playing this tracks theme and there's a bit of female ahhs. Easily the worst song on the album but still decent.

Why Do You Go To Mindless kicks off right away with Stubbs organ smorgasbord of delight. Eventually there is a small ambient section that works well as it is pretty brief and the song comes back on nice rhythm. You get a lot of fantastic moments on this one without the mistakes the prior track has. Wonderful song, really enjoy the work between keyboard, drum, bass and guitar.

Idyllcrity opens up slowly and unfolds in time to release a furious onslaught of wonderful demented circus music. Great stuff, adds real variety to the album.

With Music Language opens with sax squonking reminiscent of Facelifts opening. Like that song I find this part goes on for too long. When the song starts one is rewarded with the band going non stop till the end. There's a little bit of female ahhs at the end that really add some colour to the song. Great track like Facelift despite the rocky opening due to the balls to the wall playing that takes the tracks to their conclusions.

Overall this album is quite lovely and hits the spot for me craving more of Stubbs style. The follow up album is definitely superior due to its tracks possessing a lot of their own character, stronger compositions, better transitions and better musicianship in general.

Kickass balls to the wall music delivering a barrage of sensory pleasure to ones very soul.

The Prime Ultimate opens up with Japanese talking from a show of some kind? There is then some ol timey orchestra playing then boom, The Prime Ultimate. Fluid Canterbury Scene playing for five minutes of excellence. One thing I really love about this album is that unlike on the debut sections of songs change without awkwardness, it's just so fluid. Screaming organ over fast rhythms, fantastic opener.

Jean Frazier kicks off with familiar Avant Garde spasms that for once don't drag on for an eternity. This song maintains an ominous vibe for its entire duration and like Idyllcrity on the debut shows the range of emotions Stubbs can create. Definitely one of the darkest track on the album due to the presence of the Canterbury Scenes trademark fuzz organ that achieves the shrieking of a distorted guitar (might actually be guitar at some points).

The Land Of Yellow Leaves is a departure from the dark atmosphere of the previous track. Here one can retreat to a land of yellow leaves, a land full of gentle rhythms and crystalline keyboard bubbling about. Here one can digest a wonderful bass solo given enough time/space to actually be mentioned, unlike the treatment of Bass solos by some as nothing more then lil fills.

Ponders De Ete starts off innocuously enough just pretty guitar. Then you get the non stop tribal drumming paired with janky fuzz Organ playing. I love the drumming on this song as it doesn't stop and lose energy, not even when the organ changes. A short song jam packed with power.

Under Pebble Wood takes the upbeat sound of track 1/3 but done justice and rendered also in a long song. Opening with gentle guitar and bits of watery keyboard that are subsumed by the keyboard swelling until a boiling point is reached. Exploding into the scene is Under Pebble Wood. One after another the listener is greeted by profoundly beautiful sections. Gentle yet engaging the song does everything right, developing and changing just like a long song should. Wrapping up the 9~ minutes of magnificent instrumental work is unpaired guitar to provide a pulchritudinous conclusion.

Eternity Is Infinity takes the more avant- edge of tracks 2/4 and expands upon them like track 5. Opening with the albums only vocals Eternity Is Infinity begins with airy female vocals, absolutely in the Canterbury Scene tradition. The you get an absolutely disgusting (in a good way) diminished riffing section. This is smoothly replaced after a brief pause by quiet organ playing below very modern drum work (reminds me of hip hop beats). Anyways what follows is the most Japanese riff I've ever heard, very quirky and one hundred percent delicious, especially as the keyboardist rips it up above. Then the organ squelchs to introduce a janky section that some might consider circus music. Bass takes the lead here for a bit then trades of with the keyboard. The song gets quiet for a bit after the climax and from here out the music is pretty gentle but no less majestic or powerful.

Overall this is an excellent album. I love the papery snare, tom abuse and the rest of the drummers kit which is used to great effect. The guitarist understands the proper place for a guitar in music is as the keyboards back up. The keyboardist fires off superlative lines 24/7 and achieves an absolutely astounding sound from their instruments. The bassist thumps away driving compositions should they need that bombastic bass or holding down an infectious bass line. Highly recommend to everyone.

Ps it sounds nothing like Can. The experimental components of this album are absolutely in the Canterbury Scene tradition founded by icons like oh idk, Egg or Soft Machine? (Egg debuted as Arzachel in 1969, same as Can and if you count Delay 1968 which was released years later then I'll count Soft Machine 1967 recordings that were also released years later and clearly showcase their style on the longest track) Anyways the Avante Garde sections of this album are much much much closer to those of Egg on songs like Symphony No 2 than the style of Can This bothers me because Can is a band that set out to achieve their experimental sound through very hypnotic rhythms and otherworldly effects to colour their music which in my eyes is at odds with the constantly changing style of Stubbs. This really upsets me, the work of Dave Stewart is what the band was named after ffs, they literally sent him their tape yet a certain someone ascertains it was not the man the band clearly was inspired by but some others without even mentioning Egg in regards to the experimental moments, sad.

Complaining complete

The fruit of "The Stubbs Effect"

The turn of the new decade, the eighties, marked the end of the glory days for Canterbury scene. However, the influence that the sub-genre had on many generations to come is undeniable. Stubbs were an incredibly obscure Japanese band, which recorded only one official album, Prime Moving Lumps before completely disappearing into the underground. The band's name is a clear inspiration of a piece by Hatfield and the North, "The Stubbs Effect". There is proof that the band members sent their album to the legendary keyboard virtuoso, Dave Stewart (who played in Hatfield and the North), who explained the history of the name "Stubbs". It was allegedly the last name of his schoolmate, who could not sing and when the tune got higher, his voice would get louder. Stewart called it "The Stubbs Effect".

The music of Prime Moving Lumps would not be out of place on a Canterbury scene album released circa 1975 or so. The inspiration of Hatfield and the North, National Health, and even Gilgamesh is evident. Stubb's material is entirely instrumental and their pieces rely strongly on showcasing the band members' musical skills. The recording quality is really a big downside of the album, which often makes it really unpleasant. In addition to gloomy and "blurry" sound, some very odd effects appear, sounding a bit like the introduction to a Soviet TV show in the early 80's. The album cover seems to share affinity with Caravan's In the Land Of Grey and Pink.

Yama[&*!#]a Kojiro, the Stubbs' mastermind, is definitely a very good keyboardist with a strong influence of the previously mentioned Dave Stewart as well as Mike Ratledge. He often uses the fuzz organ sound that Ratledge pioneered as well as synthesizers and an electric piano. Kasai Ken's guitar tone and playing influences can be traced to those of Phil Miller of Hatfield and the North and National Health and Phil Lee of Gilgamesh with their fuzz guitar timbre that seems to sustain for days. The rhythm section of Kamon Ryo on bass and Konno Kazuhiko does not seem to stand out in any way, but makes time signatures seem very smooth and natural. All things considered, all of the basic Canterbury ingredients are there.

The album consists of six tracks. Side A consists of shorter ones, while Side B includes two longer pieces, both above eight minutes. The tunes do not have a lot of variety and diversity between one another. They often follow a simple structure of presenting the main theme and falling into improvisational madness.

All in all, Prime Moving Lumps is a very decent effort. It is very hard to be the first reviewer of any work by the band. We can only wonder what Stubbs would have been able to do if they had found themselves in a more favorable environment. Although it does not emerge in any way whatsoever, it should be an enjoyable listen for fans of the jazzy side of Canterbury scene. Three stars!